Start Wars Mod Being Possible

[bill2505]

could a star war mod being possible (i mean engine wise {lazers instead of arrows and grenades )

what about a modern day mod

Edited March 2, 2011 by bill2505

[feneur]

I'd say the hardest bit would be to add flying units, and perhaps a few things like that. But apart from that it shouldn't be much more difficult than a mod taking place in a similar time period. It would take some programming, but how much depends on how realistic you'd want such things to be.

[AuroN2]

And how epic you want it to be.

[oshron]

i dont see anything too complex about a SW mod, aside from the aforementioned flying units. i myself have thought that the 0ad engine could very easily have rifle units by simply giving the archer unit class animations that feature guns instead of arrows, and so on

[fabio]

A WWII mod would also be nice... it always comes to my mind when I load a desert map.

[chess007_phoenix_clan]

On the main page I saw:

"Add experimental fighter planes."

If there are flying planes, then presumably there could be flying x-wings, tie fighters, etc. If you wanted a pure space battle, create flat land and give it a stars terrain (I'm assuming land is required to make a map, not merely "space" or "sky").

[Ykkrosh]

Yeah, they could use pretty similar code to what's now (experimentally) in the game. Some cases might want slightly different movement algorithms (the current code assumes planes always fly at maximum speed, whereas Star Wars physics might allow ships that slow down or stop) but it should be relatively easy to implement - I only spent a couple of hours on the experimental version, since the engine and gameplay code is flexible enough to make this kind of thing possible without much effort.

[Wijitmaker]

Some cases might want slightly different movement algorithms

0 A.D. may want that for seafaring ships anyway - not just for aircraft.

[chess007_phoenix_clan]

QUOTE

Some cases might want slightly different movement algorithms

0 A.D. may want that for seafaring ships anyway - not just for aircraft.

Seems to me ships of that time period (whether sailing or rowed - or both) would start out slow then get faster as their momentum built - with a top speed eventually being reached. Of course the top speed would depend on weight of said ship and amount of rowers (among other factors), or in the case of a sails only situation, the wind speed and wind direction. Also whether or not the sea is calm (or stormy) would be another factor. I'm not sure how technical you all want to make 0 AD (and I realize the more technical it is the longer it takes to implement, so I'm not suggesting taking all these factors into account, just throwing some ideas out there) but even taking a few of those factors into account would be much better than aoktc's method of ships always moving at max speed which is a constant. Also if a ship rams another ship the faster its going the more damage it would cause.

Size (length not just weight) certainly matters for things like a turning radius. For example, a canoe can turn much sharper than a large warship. Additionally, the faster a ship is moving the longer its turning arc.

Edit:

I understand once ships reach a certain size they would need to be built from a dock. But small craft (such as a 3 - 5 person canoe) could be built on land, and carried by the crew into the water.

Edited June 15, 2011 by chess007_phoenix_clan

[feneur]

I understand once ships reach a certain size they would need to be built from a dock. But small craft (such as a 3 - 5 person canoe) could be built on land, and carried by the crew into the water.

It's more about the concept of ships being built from the dock than 100% realism. And also, would you want to have 3-5 units tied up creating a canoe while they could gather resources or help defend your city? (Added to that it would also mean more work, having the canoe built outside the dock would mean we'd have to create animations for it )

[Mythos_Ruler]

I once had the idea that siege engines get built in-field, like buildings do, rather than from the Fortress. Building canoes would need "carrying" animations though. Not sure it's worth it. As Feneur has eluded to, my mantra is "authenticity, not accuracy." What that means is we can fudge some things for a coherent gameplay experience, as long as the overall feel is still authentic.

[wrod]

and bringing the big ships to the water from land would be hard

[privateer]

Smaller Ships should move slower then the bigger Ships in some cases.

A Ship rowed by one or two Guys should not move as fast as one with 30 or 40 rowers and several sails.

Building Ships, no matter if a small fisher unit or a large War Ship should still be done at the desiginated point as is done now.

[SMST]

I once had the idea that siege engines get built in-field, like buildings do, rather than from the Fortress. Building canoes would need "carrying" animations though. Not sure it's worth it. As Feneur has eluded to, my mantra is "authenticity, not accuracy." What that means is we can fudge some things for a coherent gameplay experience, as long as the overall feel is still authentic.

Well, I've played some games who made this approach (the Chinese civ on Empires: Dawn of the Modern World, for example), and it really worked well for me.

[chess007_phoenix_clan]

"As Feneur has eluded to, my mantra is "authenticity, not accuracy." What that means is we can fudge some things for a coherent gameplay experience, as long as the overall feel is still authentic."

That makes perfect sense. I was more concerned with the physics (speed, turning radius, etc) of ships than where they are built. Seige weapons built a seige workshop makes things less complex. Trying to build them near the enemy while under attack would be frustrating.

[Pedro Falcão]

In Microsoft's "Rise of Nations" (2003), units could turn into transports in contact with water if you had science research at level 1 and a dock. About spaceship movement, Blizzard's "Starcraft" (1998) are a good sample, they not only accelerate and deaccelerate their movement, but are influenced by centripetal acceleration and organic flying units also flap wings faster when the creature is in movement.

Have a look at them in YouTube or play them, it's worth to at least have a look at the systems.